New Brunswick Seizes Logs Cut By Natives
10/29/99
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Title: N.BRUNSWICK Seizes Logs Cut By Natives
Source: Environment News Service, http://www.ens.lycos.com/
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: October 29, 1999
FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, Canada, October 29, 1999 (ENS) - The New
Brunswick government seized a load of timber Tuesday that had been
illegally cut by native loggers. The wood was delivered to a
Belledune mill by Robert Levi, chief of Big Cove, the province's
biggest reserve.
The Mi'kmaq First Nation from the Big Cove reserve has been logging
on Crown land following a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last month
that recognized treaty rights to fish, hunt, and harvest. But the
province maintains logging is not permitted under the ruling.
On Monday, Chief Levi dared forest rangers to arrest him as he and a
group of 30 loggers removed pine logs cut on Crown land. Instead,
authorities waited until the following day to raid the mill and seize
the logs.
Chief Levi said he has instructed his lawyer to begin proceedings
against "whoever stole my wood," in this case, the Department of
Natural Resources. "If we are breaking any law here, can someone
please tell us what it is?" he said.
"We will enforce the law. Everyone has to respect the law. The
Supreme Court has instructed us that the natives have very specific
rights and these rights must be protected, like all rights, but the
rights do not extend to forestry," Premier Bernard Lord told
reporters.
Lord rejected native accusations that government officers will not
charge Mi'kmaq because they know the charges will not stand up in
court. "I certainly don't think that we're harassing anybody. The
mandate is given to enforce the law with regards to logging in the
Crown lands of New Brunswick," he said.
Lord criticized Robert Nault, the federal Minister of Indian Affairs,
for comments two weeks ago, made "without any foundation," that the
Supreme Court decision extends to logging rights. "We're looking for
cooperation from the federal government," Lord said, adding that the
matter may have to go back to the courts to be resolved.
Jeannot Volpe, Natural Resources Minister, said the province did not
want to provoke a confrontation by arresting the loggers Monday.
"We're trying to minimize the potential for conflict," he told
reporters. "What we did is monitor the load and we will continue to
monitor all cutting activities in Crown forests."
Brad Green, provincial Justice Minister, warned loggers, truckers,
and mill operators that they could be charged for handling timber the
province considers to have been cut illegally. "The message we're
sending is nothing has changed," he said.